Maharashtra Education Minister Vinod Tawde, after meeting a delegation from Israel said that the state government compared teaching methods in the country with that of Maharashtra and would focus on taking Israel's assistance to improve the quality of education in the state.

"We discussed the educational system of our state with that of Israel. We also sought to know what are the students being taught there along with regular curriculum. The students there also get military training at a tender age which inculcates nationalist values among students," Tawde told reporters here.

He said in the first stage, the government would focus on increasing number of students in rural areas and make necessary arrangements to ensure that maximum parents enroll their children in schools.

After that, the government would start a 'Training for Trainers' programme for teachers. The state government would also focus onspecially-abled children.

"It was discussed that it is imperative for us to direct our focus on specially-abled children. It was decided that we will take help from counselors to educate such children," Tawde said.

"The delegation also conveyed to us that many people in their country like Marathi language. Thus on an experimental basis, we will start training the Israeli people in Marathi language," he said.